Lasers produce intense coherent light and have been applied to many uses. Among those uses are etching and cutting by virtue of the intense radiant energy of the laser light beam and printing wherein the laser light “paints” an image on a charged rotating drum by altering the charge distribution on the surface of the drum in a so called laser printing device.
Among the numerous types of engineered containers manufactured to a high degree of precision common in modern industry, are, for example, toner cartridges for laser printing. Other such containers include, by way of example, those such as electronic device and/or circuit containers, inkjet cartridges, instrument packages, single use containers of many types, such as filter elements, absorbents, fire extinguishers and the like. In the case of toner cartridges, for example, a high degree of precision in manufacture is necessary for proper operation and good printed image quality. Process or toner cartridges manufactured from new components by original equipment manufactures typically are made of a thermoplastic material such as one of the Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) polymers or other relatively hard, tough, rigid and relatively low melting temperature polymer.
Central to proper operation of a process or toner cartridge is proper alignment and orientation of its various components, as well as proper sealing of the cartridge to avoid the leakage of toner. Original equipment manufacturers achieve the necessary alignment and orientation of toner cartridge components, by sealing the cartridge sections together along engineered joining interfaces. Typically, the original equipment cartridge sections are joined by ultrasonic welding, rivets, adhesive, mechanical fasteners or some combination of these methods.
The process of remanufacturing a toner or process cartridge requires that the original equipment cartridge, aftermarket cartridge or previously remanufactured cartridge be disassembled in such a manner that it may be reassembled with its components in the location, alignment and orientation necessary for proper operation. Typically, a hopper section of the cartridge which holds the toner is to be separated from a roller section which contains the developer roller and other components. Some toner or process cartridges are originally manufactured with the interfacing joining surfaces of adjoining sections having a circuitous or serpentine path or course and with relatively fragile components such as electrical conductors or printed circuit tapes or boards passing through or very near the joining interface of the adjoining sections. Such configurations may be found also in electronic device containers, inkjet cartridges and some instrument packages and single use dispensers, for example.
Heretofore, in containers having such features, a problem has existed in disassembling the container without damaging fragile components and in doing so in a manner as to permit reassembly. A conventional approach to this problem has been to manually disassemble the sections of the container, with or without the aid of a positioning jig, by mechanical means such as rotary blades, router heads, saws, grinders or the like. These techniques, while generally effective suffer a number of drawbacks, including worker safety issues arising from dust and debris generated and the use of mechanical cutting devices. Another such drawback is that manual disassembly is subject to human error and variation in quality. Yet another drawback is that manual disassembly is highly labor intensive resulting in increased production costs.